Is anyone else into radio control hobbies ? I have two RC airplanes . One is a PT 40 with a 46 size motor in it . It flys pretty well . I also have an electric plane . It flys really slow top speed is only around 10 MPH . It is alot of fun in smaller areas where there just isnt enough room to fly the nitro powered plane .

I personally have no experience flying an RC Heli but from what I have been told they are HARD to fly . I have been flying RC planes for around 3 years now with only one major wreck . The wreck kind of sucked . I hit a parked school bus I have the photos around someplace if anyone is interested in seeing them . A couple of the guys I fly with have planes and helis . These same guys fly circles around me with there planes and say they can barely keep a chopper in the air

I have been flying RC planes for around 3 years now with only one major wreck . The wreck kind of sucked . I hit a parked school bus

Heh, wrecks can be pretty crazy. We had a rather extreme racing design that we designed and built for a class, designed for speed and the expense of "nice" flight characteristics. Never even got the thing to full speed, the pilot was so nervous about flying it he stalled and spun it after half an orbit. The only thing that didn't shatter was the tail.

One rule to flying RC is there are two kinds of pilots . The ones that have crashed and the ones that will . If you decide you want a heli get a flight sim and fly it alot . RealFlight is pretty good . FMS is another good one and its free . Also most people that fly love to help beginers get into the hobby . find a flying club and have someone help you get started . Other wise i can promise you that your bank account will get alot smaller really fast

My dad and I built an RC/10 buggy back when I was a kid. That was a lot of fun. I rember running it right into my babysitters ankle. She wasn't real happy with me. I guess it left quite a bruise.

A couple years ago, I bought a Traxxas T-Max nitro 4x4. It's a lot of fun. The only downside is the maintenance. Keeping the engine tuned and running right is more involved that I thought it was going to be. I also find that when I run it off-road, I go through clutch shoes like crazy. Replacing them is only about $12, but it takes about an hour to take the thing apart, replace the shoes, put it back together, and get the drive gears adjusted right again.

Now that I live out in the country, I'm thinking I'd like to get into RC planes. My yard is about 5 acres of grass, and behind my lot is a hay field and a corn field. Not much to hit. My driveway is pretty long to, so it would make a good runway.

-SF

"Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been notified."

i have 15 planes and i'm still in the process of buying more....i have a bunch of biplanes and eventually i'll get a tri-plane....there are so many planes to choose from and also many different flying styles to pick from too.... the style of flying that i like best is called 3D....here's a link of a 15 year-old flying 3D...the plane is a Giles202 with a OS 1.60 engine

As kids we had a few of the Radio Shack specials, but nothing exotic. Just some cars that were too slow in my opinion. I wanted a plane at one point, but I knew I was too young to master it without incurring a significant cost to the parents' wallet.

Right now we are finishing up our 9ft wingspanned rc plane that has to carry 10lbs of cargo, shes affectionately called shammo (sic). RC planes are fun, unless they are lumbering giants that have a small flight envelope and taking turns is a nightmare! You think with a 9ft high AR wingspan and a thrust to weight of about 2 when its not fully loaded would be hard pressed to stall .

I have flown two small rc helicopters and they are a blast, plus you dont need as much room as a plane.

I started out with r/c cars back in the 80's. Built a Tamiya Monster Beetle, Tamiya Wild Willy, Tamiya Big Wig, Tamiya Clod Buster, and a AE RC10 (to original gold tub chassis).

A few years ago I got back into r/c cars and built an HPI Pro3 just to mess around with.

I realized I was getting bored with cars so I went towards r/c helis and never looked back! I've only got 1 r/c heli, a Hirobo Sceadu 50, but it's plenty heli for me.

Yes, a heli is damn hard to fly when you're starting out. The only way to learn is getting stick time on a simulator. I didn't have anyone else to learn from because everyone at my flying field flew planes. There was supposed to be another heli guy but I never saw him whenever I went.

I'm okay at flying. Doing the crazy "3D" flying they do with helis is not something I can do comfortably. Maybe because I don't like the prospect of rebuilds if I crash.

Yeah this is a necro post but its my thread so shoot me. Well since my last post in this thread I have added a bunch more stuff. 2 more airplanes. One of them is a Super Cub and the other is a 3D scare you to death when you fly it job. 2 Helicopters one is the Blade CX2 coaxial heli nice and mild to fly. I use it to chase the cats around the house. And this is the newest addition to my fleet.

I am an average pilot when it comes to airplanes and a complete nOOb with collective pitch helicopters. If flying a plane is like riding a bike then flying a heli like this is similar to standing on a beach ball while blind folded while you juggle. Once you learn to control one the helis arent really that hard but the learning curve when you start out is very steep and expensive. With an airplane if you crash you can be in the air again in a few minutes a good part of the time. With a heli they flop around like a chicken with its head cut off when you crash. Your looking at an hour minimum to check things over and replace a few parts before you can even think about flying again.

That seems to be a standard Bell two-blade rotor with teeter-bar design (although the teeter bar has some aero flaps on it). I wonder if there are any R/C copters using coaxial rotor designs, which would remove blade torque from the control problems?

If the Earth were flat, cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.

That seems to be a standard Bell two-blade rotor with teeter-bar design (although the teeter bar has some aero flaps on it). I wonder if there are any R/C copters using coaxial rotor designs, which would remove blade torque from the control problems?

There is a bunch of different coaxial helis I even said my other one is a coaxial in my post The coaxials are all smaller in size so you cant fly them outside unless its dead calm the wind just blows them away. The way they are built you cant do any 3D stuff with them at all. Basically the body of the heli hangs off the blades and the blades stay level all the time. They will fly forward, backward, right, left, up, down and you have rudder control but they cant do any cool stuff with them. Here is the stuff that E-Flite makes http://e-fliterc.com/Search/Default.asp ... =&CatID=HB I have the Blade CX2 which is a coaxial.

The coaxials are all smaller in size so you cant fly them outside unless its dead calm the wind just blows them away. The way they are built you cant do any 3D stuff with them at all. Basically the body of the heli hangs off the blades and the blades stay level all the time. They will fly forward, backward, right, left, up, down and you have rudder control but they cant do any cool stuff with them.

That's odd, as everything I've read about real-world coaxials says they're more maneuverable in 3D than single-rotor/tail rotor designs. I wonder if stepping up to gas power would "fix" that problem (while eliminating indoor activities)?

If the Earth were flat, cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.

The coaxials are all smaller in size so you cant fly them outside unless its dead calm the wind just blows them away. The way they are built you cant do any 3D stuff with them at all. Basically the body of the heli hangs off the blades and the blades stay level all the time. They will fly forward, backward, right, left, up, down and you have rudder control but they cant do any cool stuff with them.

That's odd, as everything I've read about real-world coaxials says they're more maneuverable in 3D than single-rotor/tail rotor designs. I wonder if stepping up to gas power would "fix" that problem (while eliminating indoor activities)?

Nope it wouldnt make any difference. We might be thinking of two totally different things thought. This is a coaxial helicopter in the RC world.

The top set of rotors is free floating ( no contol inputs go to them). The flybar has brass weights in it. With the top rotor being free floating and the addition of brass weights to the flybar to help counteract what the botom rotor does you gain stability but loose all 3D ability in the process.

The top set of rotors is free floating ( no contol inputs go to them). The flybar has brass weights in it. With the top rotor being free floating and the addition of brass weights to the flybar to help counteract what the botom rotor does you gain stability but loose all 3D ability in the process.

I get it now. Real-world coaxials have swashplates for each rotor whereas R/C coaxials treat the top rotor as a big propeller. Makes for a lot of difference in control authority.

If the Earth were flat, cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.

I went out and tried to hover the new bird this morning, the experience was interesting to say the least. I was over controlling it so I took the head apart and took a couple of shims out to soften up the helis response. Then I dialed in some expo on the radio to soften it up even more. Now when the wind dies down I can go give it another try. Hopefully with the softened responses I can hover it with out having it do the dying chicken dance and spraying parts all over my yard.

I want to build it myself. If I can find a way to hotwire the foam myself I will, otherwise I will just buy a zagi or something. I'd like to do my own glass covering too, as it would be sweet do do it myself.